India Most Youthful Start-Up Country With 72% Founders Below 35 Years, Says Centre

The startups ecosystem in India is becoming a dominance economic force, according to Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

“Close to 4,400 technology startups exist in India and the number is expected to reach over 12,000 by 2020. India is the world’s youngest start-up nation with 72 per cent founders less than 35 years,” she said at the Start-up India states’ conference.

Nirmala Sitharaman/Twitter

According to Sitharaman, the government is committed to make Start-up India initiative a scalable reality and a conducive environment for the start-ups to prosper.

The government has also established the Startup India Hub on April 1, 2016, as a single point of contact for the entire Startup ecosystem which would enable exchange of knowledge and to resolve queries and to provide hand-holding support to start-ups.

The hub has catered to more than 13,500 queries received from start-ups through telephone, email and Twitter, she added.

Nirmala Sitharaman/Twitter

The Finance Act, 2016 has made provision for start-ups to get income tax exemption for 3 years in a block of 5 years, if they are incorporated between April 1, 2016 and March 31, 2019.

Also See

According to industry body Nasscom’s report, India has been pegged at third place behind US and Britain in terms of the number of start-ups. The report had suggested that the Indian technology startups landscape has seen a tremendous growth in the emergence of innovative start-ups and creative entrepreneurs.

“The maturing Indian start-up ecosystem is now contributing to the Indian economy in many ways. Apart from positively impacting the lifestyles of citizens involved, startups are now creating innovative technology solutions that are addressing the key social problems that India is facing and creating significant growth opportunities for every stakeholders,” R Chandrashekhar, president, Nasscom had said.

The Nasscom report has stated that with 100 per cent growth in number of private equity, venture capitalists, angel investors along with a 125 per cent growth in funding over last year, Indian start-up ecosystem has risen to the next level.